Jeremy’s back ached and his lungs felt like he’d tried breathing on the sun by the time they reached the ruins. He let Synnamon climb down and, after a staggering step, collapsed. Groaning, he pulled himself into a sitting position and gasped for several long moments.
“You know how to make a lady feel good about her weight,” Dr. Rice quipped.
He thought about giving her finger, then decided against it. There was too much at stake and raising his arm would take too much effort. Instead he shook his head and offered a grunt.
“You’ve been eating rations, haven’t you?” Kira asked.
Jeremy grunted again. He knew he couldn’t speak coherently so he didn’t want to bother trying. Synammon came to his rescue. “Yes, why? We’ve been running tests on the local flora and fauna and it seems safe, but there are many unidentified compounds in it. I-”
“It changes you,” Kira interrupted. “Something about this place gets inside of you and makes you different. Better. More alive. The water seems to do the most, but maybe that’s because water’s in everything and it passes through our bodies the fastest.” She shrugged. “Whatever it is, once you start you can’t stop.”
“It’s an addiction?” Jeremy looked up to see the alarmed look on Dr. Rice’s face after she asked her question.
“Sort of,” Kira said. She looked around, studying them compound, then turned back to them. “I don’t know what it is or how it works, I just know how I feel. That and after we saved some other people who crashed after we did, they brought a bunch of their food from their ship. Some of us tried it and it made us sick. Everything on this planet is built to survive, even the planet itself.”
Dr. Rice frowned. “Hurry up Jer, I need to get to my lab.”
“You’re lab looks a little flat right now,” Jeremy pointed to the building with the science labs in it. The megasaur had stepped on it or done something to cave in a few walls and a roof here and there.
“Congratulations, you killed it.” Kira pointed past the science building to where they could see the top of the tail of the megasaur laying on the ground.
“We didn’t kill it, we ran like babies,” Jeremy muttered.
Kira ignored him. Dr. Rice gestured for him to stand again, finally convincing him. He had to admit, he felt better than he had any right to. A quick stretch of his back and he felt ready for another hike across the plain. He hoped the next time it wouldn’t require a passenger on his back though.
Kira kept her bow partially drawn as they hobbled through the wreckage. Broken sections of walls, machinery, weapons, vehicles, and even people lay scattered about. Already the insects had gathered and were feasting on some of the tastier pieces. Jeremy stumbled, drawing a cry of pain from Synnamon, when he saw a massive insect that looked like a cross between a centipede and a scorpion feasting on a hand. The worst part was the hand was only a little bit smaller than the bugs head.
A few moments later they used the manual override to get into the science building. Inside it looked only slightly less desolate. Some sections were largely untouched while others lay with gaping holes in the walls or ceiling. A few times Jeremy and Kira had to work together to force the wreckage out of the way so Synnamon could get through, earning a “This better be worth it,” glare from Kira. Jeremy felt the same way, but he needed friends, not enemies.
Dr. Rice’s lab was exposed to the outside, courtesy of a gaping hole in one wall. Through it the body of the megasaur lay exposed. Or at least a portion of its back and flank could be seen. It was unnaturally still, lending credence to the belief that the Marines had done enough damage to kill it at last. More surprising was that several pieces of equipment in the lab remained powered up.
“Hurry,” Kira snapped. “Something’s not right.”
“What, you smell something?” Jeremy quipped.
She snapped her head around to look at him. His grin faded when her deadly calm eyes met his. “Yes.”
Synnamon let go of him and hopped over to each workstation, calling up the reports and scanning through them. Jeremy watched her for a moment, his skin itching with his need to move. “She’s right!”
Kira looked harshly at the sudden and loud outburst from the biologist. She looked away just as quickly, returning to keep watch through the hole in the wall. “Good, can we go now?”
“Right about what?” Jeremy asked. He moved closer to look at the charts on the display Synnamon was looking at.
“I’ve been analyzing our blood samples. I didn’t pay much attention to it, I was looking for increases in white blood cells and other signs of disease or infections. I missed the benign changes.” Her voice rose with excitement.
“Changes like what?”
“I’m not sure, that would take longer. Some fundamental differences but without studying them I’m not sure. I’d have to guess the changes might allow for superior bonding and delivery of compounds. Nutrients, minerals, glucose…everything! I’d need to do some biopsies to be sure.”
Jeremy stared at the screen, suddenly interested. “A biopsy?”
“Not now. Now we need to leave.” Kira’s voice cut through their budding interest like a laser scalpel.
“The megasaur is dead, why does it matter so much?” Synnamon protested.
“Because your Marines didn’t kill it.”
“What?” Jeremy noticed Kira was still staring out of the room. “If they didn’t, what did?”
“Something I’ve never seen before. Pick up the doctor, it’s time to go!”